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The park's board director told our media partner the North County Times that the new name will help people distinguish it from the zoo.

He says that the word "safari" will make people think more about a journey and an "evolving adventure" which is a different experience from the zoo.

Park director Bob McClure said many people have been confused by the current name.

"If they had come to the zoo, why should they come to the park?" McClure said.

The San Diego Zoo Board of Trustees, which governs both the zoo and animal park, voted June 30 to approve the name change, which had been under consideration for about nine months, McClure told the paper.